


Ikea At The End Of The World

by Pearlsareperfect



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria Safe-Zone, Arat is a lesbian and you can't change my mind, Canon Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, M/M, Negan (Walking Dead) Being an Asshole, Negan (Walking Dead) Swears, Negan Being Negan (Walking Dead), Nice Negan (Walking Dead), Not Canon Compliant, POV Negan (Walking Dead), Pansexual Negan (Walking Dead), Sweet Negan (Walking Dead), Toddler Judith Grimes, onesided Negan/Rick Grimes, postapocalyptic ikea shopping, the walking dead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-13 16:50:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16022003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlsareperfect/pseuds/Pearlsareperfect
Summary: Negan and the saviors happen upon a mostly intact Ikea while on a supply run for the sanctuary.





	Ikea At The End Of The World

**Author's Note:**

> (Could take place during an alternate season seven or eight when the war never came to fruition.)

They spot the Ikea after about two hours of driving from the sanctuary. Simon and Negan are on an spur of the moment supply run with only Arat along for company. With the amount of compliant communities supplying food and other essentials the survival of those in the sanctuary and its outposts was all but guaranteed. Creature comforts though, those were a little lacking especially for the workers who lived in their patchworked tents on the factory floor.

 

Negan wasn’t one for sitting around, he made many of the tributary pickups himself, out of boredom though continued intimidation of the communities they controlled didn’t hurt. But on days like this when no community was due for terrorization and he didn’t feel like making small talk with the wives he’d rope a few saviours into joyriding around town looking for something shiny.

 

“My girlfriend used to love dragging me around that shithole” Simon grumbles irritably from the passenger side. The flags out front are blowing in the wind unfazed by the end of days.

 

“Think we can find some cool shit?” Arat wonders from the backseat 

 

“I’ve never been inside” Negan admits pulling over to the side of road so they can think on it.

 

“Really? Because you totally struck me as the Ikea type” Arat jokes. 

 

“Can we please fucking not.” Simon groans. “It’s probably overrun anyways.” he says scrambling for a way out. Arat snorts and Negan pulls back on the road and turns into the mostly empty parking lot.

 

“Simon my love who the hell wants to die in a furniture store” Negan jeers in response.

 

Famous last words because it seems that a couple of dumbasses chose to wait out their final hours inside. Simon shoots off a round to draw them out and a growling woman in an obnoxious yellow and black striped polo jerks her way unnaturally towards the trio. She is followed by an old lady in a stained nightgown and an emaciated younger man naked from the waist up. Arat whacks the older walker in the face with with the butt of her rifle and it drops to the ground unmoving. Negan slams Lucille into the heads of the two others and old black blood splatters across the entry and trails down to their feet. 

 

“Double whammy!” he whoops proudly at the mess of skull and brain matter and Arat gestures towards a hanging banner advertising 

 

“swedish meatballs! 3.99 upstairs in the cafe”

 

“What kind of furniture supplier has a fucking cafe on site. Jesus! ” Negan laughs taken aback. Simon licks his lips and sprints up the motionless escalator. 

“Simon!” Arat yells after him and then turns to Negan rolling her eyes.

 

“They’re actually pretty good sir.” she smiles throwing her hands up apologetically. They take the escalator two steps at a time and walk towards the other saviour who’s jumping over the buffet counter by the time they reach the seating area. Arat pushes over one of the metal chairs that’s in their walkway and the sound echoes off of the lineouleam startling a walker that had been milling around a display case. 

 

Negan starts to ready Lucille but Arat stops him with an arm in front of his chest. 

 

“I made the noise i’ll take care of it. Just save me some meatballs mmk?” she shouts in his general direction jogging off to take care of the straggler. Simon is staring dejectedly at the moldy mass of what could possibly have once been a meatball.

 

Negan walks around the counter to stand beside him hands on hips. 

 

“You didn’t actually think the ones on the counter would have lasted this long? Your dumbass think they were like twinkies or some shit?” he chuckled slapping the other man lightly on the back.  
Simons runs a hand through his balding hair and starts off in the direction Arat headed. 

 

“Giving up on your balls that damn quickly?” Negan shouts “There’s got to be a freezer or something they stored the rest of them in.” He reasons Simon shoves a hand into his pocket and turns back towards the buffet. The two men take a couple minutes to snoop around in the back of the kitchen. There’s a couple pans the kitchen workers had used to cook in and a microwave at every other workstation but everything was top of the line electronic and completely useless. Funny how the tables turned on the fancy new gadgets of the day and the rich pricks who used them. They also spot a storage area with a walk in freezer. Chilled air blows out from inside the second they pull the door free. 

 

“Must be our lucky day.” Simon announces pointing at the fifty plus bags of frozen meat at the far end of the freezer. Tons of frozen vegetables and a couple loaves of frozen garlic bread are dispersed evenly throughout the stack.

 

“Well, go in and get your shit” Negan laughs holding the door out of the way. Simon eyes him a bit suspiciously. “Come on Simon I’m not gonna close you in” He’s joking but it’s funny as hell to watch Simon grab a couple sacks of meatballs never breaking eye contact just in case he needs to make a mad dash for the door. 

 

Arat is sitting at one of the tables when they come out again feet propped up on the tabletop her filthy black boots leaving dirt on the clean white surface. Simon quickly dusts it off with his hand when she stands up. 

 

“Neat freak” she pouts and they shuffle off leaving the scavenged food in a pile to pick up on the way back downstairs. The dead one Arat disposed of is layed neatly against a blue suede coach a clearly distinguishable stab wound through its left eye. Arat’s kills are clean even if her boots aren’t. He appreciates that. There’s rarely anything left from the neck up after Lucille’s had a go. 

 

The three saviors make their way to the line of showrooms where a pre-collapse room is set up in the latest styles. Arat pulls a blanket out of a gingham themed display room. 

 

“Laura says it’s freezing when she’s on midnight watch, figured she could use it.” Arat explains when the two men look at her confused

 

The imagery of the heavily muscled blonde sitting at a watchpost with her septum ring and machine gun swaddled up in a red checkered blanket is highly entertaining but would realistically maker her an easy target for any intruder with a good scope. He doesn’t mention it to Arat. Laura’s smart enough to figure it out on her own and if she doesn’t he’ll make sure someone else will talk to her about it. Arat looks too pleased with her gift the gingham dragging on the floor behind her as she moves on swinging her hips.

 

Arat had come to the sanctuary willingly resourceful enough to know she was better off in a strong group then a loner. He’d offered to marry her as well. He’d only had two wives at the moment and felt his attention drifting enough to attempt to garner a third. Turns out Arat was super fucking gay. It ended up being lucky she didn’t like dick because she’d become one of his best soldiers instead. 

 

Simon grabs a couple dark coloured button ups from a funky minimalist display rack and Negan spots a closet full of little black dresses. Most of them are a bit small but his wife Amber is a fricking bird no matter how much food he offers her and it can’t be too long until she spills some sort of spirit on her current dress if she hasn’t already. Simon checks his watch.

 

“It’s gonna be dark soon we should probably grab the food and haul ass out of here” He suggests. 

 

“Sure we’ll head out in a few I wanna see if they’ve got any fun kitchen knives” Arat answers 

 

“Simon why don’t you grab the food and load up the truck I’m gonna run ahead a bit. Have fun with the knives Arat” Negan announces. She waves energetically and they go separate ways. He doesn’t have a destination in mind but he finds himself following the signs to the children’s bedroom section. He meanders his way through the different displays bedsheets with brightly coloured cartoon characters and bookshelves stuffed with swedish children’s stories. He sits on the lip of a toddlers bedroom. There’s a shelf full of teething toys above a mahogany baby crib set against the rooms blue backdrop. There’s a few older kids at the sanctuary but no babies. Probably a couple pregnant women though he was entirely careful with his wives. A empty factory wasn’t the ideal setting to start a family.

 

He thinks about Ricks kid Judith as he sat there catching his breath. She was a damn perfect cherub with those silky blonde ringlets of hers. Didn’t look much like her dad yet except for the stink eye she had given him when he’d first lifted her out of her crib. Carl had just about flipped his shit which wasn’t completely uncalled for since he had beat the fuck out of two of his family members within a month from that point. He could have asked first, maybe given Carl a little common courtesy instead of stressing him out so bad, but what the hell. She was the first baby he’d seen in years and it’s not like he could even think about hurting the kid. 

 

He hadn’t really gotten the chance to take a good look at the room they had her in the one time he’d seen her. Rick made damn sure someone else had his daughter elsewhere on the days when Negan insisted on visiting Alexandria. He’d seen the the portly older woman he’d propositioned and the younger butch girl shuffle out of Rick's place with the baby a few times when he’d shown up unexpectedly. But since the saviours tended to keep a pretty consistent schedule of pickups she was mostly gone before he arrived. 

 

Negan enjoyed Ricks company not only for the sake of watching him squirm, although that was certainly part of it. He wouldn’t deny Rick was a total knockout with those baby blues of his. He can’t help but think somewhat bitterly about how different their relationship could have been if the two had met on less violent circumstances. What might have still gone down if Rick hadn’t been so obviously shacking up with the gorgeous samurai. He wouldn’t force him into anything physical but if anyone involved had an objection to his over the top flirting or explicit comments towards Alexandria’s frontman they had yet to say anything.

 

Negan spots a empty diaper bag and starts to shove some of the teething toys inside. He spots a bin full of stuffed toys and throws a couple into the bag, a pink dog and a little lion, after some deliberation on the presence of beads when used as stuffing. Most of the books on the displays are in Swedish but there’s a few classics that have shoehorned there way including “Goodnight Moon” and “Corduroy” That one might not be quite as well known but he remembers it being a childhood favorite. There’s an open lid to display to potential buyers the storage space underneath the crib but the actual supplies are disappointedly slim. There’s a couple non name brand diapers and they go in the bag as well. 

 

Afterwards Negan figures it’s time to head out front and meet with the others. He balls up Amber’s dress in the diaper bag and slings it over his shoulder so he’s still got a free hand for Lucille. The Ikea is as silent as a graveyard downstairs except for a persistent moaning that seems to come from a staff break room which has been blocked by a few pieces of furniture. It’s entirely possible that whoever was holed up here in the early days barricaded their dead inside with some sort of residual sentimentality. He leaves them be. It’s been a long day.

 

Arat is already in the backseat when he reaches the car and Simon is dozing off head slumped on the window. He bangs on the side door a few times and she leans over lazily to flip the lock off. According to Simon’s watch it’s a quarter to seven and they’re losing the days light fast. Driving in the dark is a coin toss. It’s a time when the dead are more active on the main roads and highways. And without crews clearing roads up there’s a high probability for debris on the backroads which requires headlights which also draws more of the dead.

 

“Do you remember what community’s due for pickup tomorrow?” He asks shaking Simon awake The other man blinks a few times bleary eyed clearly still disoriented from the nap “So…?’ he prods impatiently.

 

“Yeah it’s the kingdom” Arat chimes in helpfully. “More of that bacon coming our way”

 

Simon smiles appreciatively. “That’s the good shit, don’t want to miss that” Arat nods and the mention of missing the arrival of fresh meat quells the thought of waiting to travel until morning.  
If they make good time they roll up to the sanctuary by a little past nine. In time for a late dinner and a roll in the hay with one of the wives if she’s up for it. 

 

Unfortunately for everyone involved that’s not actually how it fucking goes. There’s a clump of dead ones blocking the way and a tree branch on the road they pick after Arat has to spend twenty minutes scouring a stupid map that’s crumpled on the floor board for another route. 

 

There’s a mangled car that’s positioned in such a way there’s no going around it without turning back. They all have to get out of the car in the frigid Virginia winter at fucking ten at night so they can move the damn thing. 

 

Laura’s on watch when they finally make it back. Arat proudly presents her with the gingham blanket and she accepts it tiredly and waits until the older woman walks inside to lay it on the ground and climb back up the guardpost. Perceptive woman nothing to worry about there. 

 

The wives are asleep in the longue. Two on the couch three on the king size bed in the corner. Amber is on the floor not so much asleep as passed out from the wine bottle on the floor next to her. He tried to make sure the wives longue was stocked with enough alcohol for a few casual drinks when he dropped by but Amber drank much faster than the scavengers could replace. 

 

He contemplates being a dick and waking them up for a round anyways but eventually decides a good night of sleep would be better for the both of them. He leaves the bag full of ikea goodies in the women’s room and heads up to his room taking settling in for a couple hours of fitful sleep.

 

The next day is a drag and the crew that was charged with picking up the bacon are too late to bring any meat for lunch. A few hours spent harassing Dwight wouldn’t be half bad but he was nowhere to be found. Negan decides to head for the wives room for some company. They could pop in a movie and relax for a bit until dinner was served. 

 

Negan didn’t feel the need to knock just threw open the door to find a bemused Frankie on the floor thumbing through the supplies from the baby bag. Amber is sitting on the couch drink in hand next to Tanya who nudges the blonde when he walks up to the pair.

 

She looks up slightly confused “Oh! Thanks for the new dress” 

 

“Not a problem darlin.” he smiles back. “You ladies want to watch a movie for a bit?” he asks and Tanya shrugs back. 

 

“Fat Joey dropped off a couple new ones last week we’ve already seen most of them but you can look through those if you want” she offers

 

Frankie snorts holding up the diapers he brought home “You got another creepy fetish you want to try out Negan because it’s going to take a lot of convincing to get me in one of these.” she jokes He looks at her amused but shakes his head. “You trying to hint that you want a fucking baby then?” she asks tentatively a little bit of worry in her expression. It wasn’t as if having a family had never crossed his mind. He’d desperately wanted to at some point with Lucille. The wives were different though. The girls were with him because they were smart. Because they knew the conditions were better than slaving for points on the floor. Sure they wouldn’t have stuck around so long if sleeping with him wasn’t a fucking perk for them as well but a baby was something else. A kid definitely wasn’t part of the deal, Frankie wouldn’t have to worry.

 

“Fuck no Frankie.” he assured her. She relaxed a little reaching back into the bag to shift through some of the other content. 

 

“Why then?” she said curiously not looking up from her exploration. There’s a baby girl in Alexandria figured I could provide for the future. This stuff was just laying around anyways what’s the harm. Frankie laughs unbelievingly “You’re telling me that you did something thoughtful without an ulterior motive?” she prods

 

“Bet it’s Ricks kid” Tanya teases leaning over the back of the couch couch and he blanks noticeably. Frankie whoops triumphantly “Oh my god it totally is.” she taunts. “You have got such a crush on that man. This is freaking hilarious. You think bringing stuff for his daughter will help you get in his pants.” she accuses thinking she’s hit the nail right on the head.

 

“That’s not why i’m bringing stuff for the kid. Dammit I can’t even do one nice thing? She’s a fucking baby probably doesn’t get enough to play around with” He explains but his wives teasing comments linger in the back of his mind. Rick is a family man after all. The exchange made him think on whether he should propose a trade off for the things he brought for Judith. Maybe a deal involving Rick and a little thank you kiss. Tempting, but not very fucking likely. He wasn’t lying to Frankie. Kids deserved to be a little pampered sometimes even when the world goes to shit.

 

They settle on the couch to watch some action flick the girls chose and he sits in the middle two women on either side of him distractedly playing with Frankie’s hair. 

 

“And I don’t have a fucking crush on him” Negan declares out of the blue as the end credits roll.

 

She rolls her eyes “Yes you do.”

 

He drives to Alexandria alone the next day stomach pleasantly heavy with that bacon from the kingdom. The second he rolls up he pounds the car horn and leans against the pickup truck an obnoxious look on his face. The same guy who usually lets him in sluggishly throws open the gates scowling at Negan as he walks past. Spencer he thinks his name is. 

 

“Can you not be so loud? You’ll draw all the dead ones out here.” Negan shrugs and swings Lucille distractedly. Seems that Spencer is a whiny little shit. He hurries through the suburban streets right to Rick’s motherfucking barbie dreamhouse of a place using Lucille to rap on the door until he’s noticed. He can see the future little serial killer peeking through the blinds and then Carl answers the door with a grimace. 

 

“Hey kid, your daddy home?” Negan asks leaning against the entryway. 

 

“He’s upstairs with Judith i’ll go grab him” Carl answers turning around tiredly. There’s no need for that it turns out since Negan can see Rick’s already at the bottom of the stairs that put upon scowl already out for a spin.

 

“We don’t have a pickup for another five days so what’s going on.” Rick questions immediately aggressive, hands on his hips. “Brought some stuff for you guys actually” Negan reveals gesturing towards the mostly full bag. Tanya had said one of the soldiers had a young kid so he’d let her take a few of the books for him.

 

“What is it?” Rick says raising his eyebrows, clearly suspicious of the older man's intentions. Negan grins

 

“I know it’s a little out of character since i’m usually the one taking your shit.” he responds “Not to rub salt in your wound of course.” he continues unabashed at the sour look on Rick’s face. “I brought some stuff for the little angel I know you keep upstairs.” he finishes

 

Rick nods confused “Thanks?” he tries hesitantly leaning forward attempt to get a look at the stuff in the bag. Negan takes a step back.

 

“Felt like you all were so busy looking for my stuff you might not have much time for any baby supplies. She can have everything I got, hell maybe more if we happen to see it. I’m not gonna have my men make a detour to babies-R-us of course but…”. He trails off gauging Rick’s reaction

 

“Alright then hand it over and i’ll take it to her. Didn’t know you did this sort of thing but i’m not gonna pass up free baby supplies. Diapers are pretty hard to DIY we’ve got to reuse them a lot.  
That’s not really laundry Michonne and enjoy doing. Rick replies slightly amused. Negan doesn’t speaks just looks back at Alexandria’s leader and grins. Rick picks up on the change in mood and rolls his eyes.

 

“Figured it wasn’t gonna be that easy” he says irritatedly “So?” he sighs “What the hell do you want for it?” 

 

“Jesus Rick i’m not trying to proposition you right now.” Negan jokes. “I just want to hand some of this to the little angel myself. That’s not too much of a hassle is it?” Carl is hanging out by the banister and noticeably tenses at the request. Rick ponders for a moment hands on hips, seeming to weigh his options. “Come on. I didn’t hurt her last time.” he presses.

 

“Not sure how that counts for anything but fine” Rick relents. “I just put her down for a nap but she’s probably still awake.” The two men cross the living room and start up the stairs towards Judith’s room. Negan giving a small nod to Carl as they pass.

 

“Oh and Negan?” Rick calls from a little higher up the staircase. “Leave the bat downstairs” Negan turns towards Carl and reverently places Lucille on the ground next to the teen. “Watch her for me ok?” he says and takes the stairs two at a time.

 

Judith is awake and she turns her head to get a better look when he opens the door. The little girl has beautiful brown doe eyes and curly blonde ringlets that frame a slightly chubby cherub face. She’s grown a lot since he’s last seen her more of a toddler than a baby really.

 

“Gotta be damn near around two now right?” He remarks as Rick lifts her out of the crib. She babbles happily wrapping her arms around her father’s neck. Rick gives her a real smile and kisses the top of her head.

 

“Damn!” she blurts looking pleased with herself 

 

“Holy shit! She speaks!” he laughs heartily and walks over to the pair of them. Rick’s face sours the signature stink eye following his motion.

 

“You gotta watch what you say around her.” he scowls “She’s picking up new words left and right. 

 

“Can I hold her?” he asks fully expecting to be rejected flat out. It’s worth a shot though.

 

“Give me the bag and sit down in the armchair and then sure. Figure you’re gonna get your way one way or another. You hurt her though and you’ll be dead before you can leave this room” Rick warns. Negan does exactly as he says and takes a seat handing Rick the loot. Rick sits his daughter gingerly on Negan’s knee and she looks slightly confused.

 

“Hello again sweetheart” he says quietly and now Judith smiles patting his face.

 

“Hello” she giggles

 

Rick took the bag over to a changing table and spread out the supplies nodding approvingly at the books. 

 

“Michonne likes to read to her. There’s not many books for babies left. She’s taken to reading from Carl’s comic books. Haven’t read corduroy though.” 

 

“Damn shame. Thing should have been a childhood classic. Hey, now maybe it will be” Je replies Judith clambers off his knee and toddles over to her father her little hands grasping futilely for the stuffed lion barely balanced on the table. Negan leans over and hands it to her 

 

“Look dad!” She grins tapping on his thigh insistently proudly displaying the toy.

 

“Yeah Judy it’s a lion” Rick replies And then all three of them smile at her wonder. She sits on the floor and hugs the lion. 

 

“Cat?” She says simply latching on to the lions mane and waving it in the air. Rick walks back to her crib and pulls out a raggedy stuffed cat a heart shaped patch on its backside. The pure joy on her face as she sits on the carpet and plays with the toys is such a rare occurrence in this broken fucked up world.

 

“Looks like I came just in time. That kitty doesn’t look like it’s gonna last that much longer” He leans in to whisper to Rick. 

 

They watch Judith for a little while longer and then Rick lifts her up and tucks her back in bed with the lion and that tattered cat and then they leave her to nap. Negan retrieves Lucille from the stairs. The two men walk to the porch and sit in the porch seats watching the afternoon sky. 

 

“Why do you have to act like such an asshole all the time” Rick asks after a few moments of silence never taking his eyes off the clouds. 

 

“Excuse me? I just took precious time out of my day to drive all the way out here to give you an unnecessary amount of shit for your daughter and you’re calling me an asshole?” Negan snorts 

 

“That’s actually what I’m talking about if you could jump down my throat and let me finish you would see that.” Rick continued annoyed “What you said earlier, about this being out of character you’re right. It’s not what I expect from you. Not even after we made this peace to stop any more loss. You’re still a dick when you come here. Always looking for a fight. Why can’t you just be like this? I can see the humanity in you when you’re bouncing my daughter on your knee. He sighs 

 

“You think being soft would help me run the sanctuary. You think some ballsy liteaunant wouldn’t get up in my face about it?” He scoffs.  
“I’ve got the world by the balls right now. Not gonna risk that just so people think I’m nice Rick”

 

“Ever heard of the golden rule? Treat some people with a little respect see what you get Negan. Do away with that point system give the workers a little more recognition. I think that’s worth something. Not saying you need to be soft. Give a little get a little you know?” He explains.

 

“Problem with that Rick is what any of that would do for me. I don’t give half a damn most of the time and I still get a whole lot.” Negan spreads out on his chair stretching his legs.

 

“How about a little human decency.? Respect for your fellow man? That do anything for you?” Rick jokes 

 

“Not much. But I could try to be a little nicer. Ya know..for you” he smirks suggestively. 

 

“Back to being an ass again” Rick laughs

 

“Sorry” He shrugs and then they are silent

**Author's Note:**

> :)))


End file.
